


Albatross

by aldiara



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen, Past Character Death, monster sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-12
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:23:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1772269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aldiara/pseuds/aldiara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which River flies, and everyone's a back-spaceship driver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Albatross

“Left left _left_ _LEFT!!”_

Mal’s voice in her ear, rough-pitched, a rare note of panic.

Well, maybe not all that rare.

River grins, steering right.

The canyon walls narrow, and narrow more. Mal curses and threatens and, when all else fails, hides his head in his arms.

At the last second, River dips the ship, and Serenity responds, sweet and eager as always, making a 90 degree turn and swerving sideways through the bottleneck, clean as you please, engines roaring a hair’s breadth from the red rock.

Afterwards, when Mal is done yelling that they need to get that gorram cooler box back and stuff her in it or she’ll kill them all, when Kaylee’s all over the hull checking for damage (won’t find any, but it’s no good telling her that), when Jayne threatens to cut open her brain and stuff some sense in it and Simon tells Jayne what _he’ll_ cut off him if he doesn’t shut his trap, and all the while Inara trying to get them not to act like such a herd of _fei fei_ … when all is said and done and they’re gone to squabble elsewhere and River sits in the pilot’s seat, one knee drawn up to rest her chin on it, looking out into the dusty cliffs and the dipping delta of a river far below, it’s Zoe who stands at the hatch, Zoe who hasn’t said a word through all the yelling.

“Damn fine piece of flying,” she says now, voice calm and dry and a little amused, before she turns and walks away, and River’s heart breaks a little.


End file.
